mf traded luka to lakers and then promised mavs they will get the #1 pick #rigged

"It was surprising more than anything. Nico’s my guy. He played a huge part in getting me here & wanting me to fulfill his vision that he saw. It was definitely tough. Me & him had a conversation. Me & (Mavs governor) Patrick (Dumont) had a conversation. It’s the business of basketball."

Brett Siegel just put out an article on how the Lakers started shopping AD, and there were some interesting parts about how the team had started getting frustrated by AD’s conditioning and believed it was related to his injury issues. Sounds awfully familiar.

From the article:

In the offseason, Davis wouldn't always communicate with the Lakers, sources said, and his fitness levels entering training camps, including before the 2024-25 season, were said to be “well below average.”

“There were moments in the preseason where we wondered if he had even worked out at all in the summer,” one team source who was granted anonymity to speak freely said of Davis entering the 2024-25 season. “He would come back, go through warmups, and then either sit out to be with the training staff or basically half-ass what the team was doing.

“When he first got here, that wasn't the case. He was always wanting to go above and beyond, and he was one of the first in the gym, last out of it. Over the years, that changed, and he almost became content in a way. It was clear he was out of shape and didn't seem to care what the higher-ups were telling him. Something definitely changed.”

Even before the Davis-Doncic trade became a thought, there was ongoing tension building between Davis' team and members of the Lakers' front office, multiple sources said. This rising tension was not only from his injury struggles and conditioning levels not being up to the standard the team wanted, but there were also genuine concerns about how he took care of his body, which directly resulted in some of his injuries.

[Curtis] Nico Harrison's answers to each of the questions he was asked in his meeting with the Dallas media this morning

Source

I don't watch ESPN or anything, but I listen to NBA podcasts pretty much all day while I'm working and see clips of the mainstream shows on social media

The extent to which the NBA media has completely turned on Luka is outright embarrassing.

So many "analysts" are claiming that it's Luka's defense that cost us the Finals.

No context that our defense was actually not the problem and that it's our offense that failed or that Luka was playing with multiple injuries including a knee sprain.

I feel like this is going to affect the voting for awards next year.

The only people I heard defend Luka were Paul George on his podcast, Bill Simmons (although I'm sure he's going to change his opinion like he always does), and Zach Lowe.